by M. Lorrox
Everyone peers through the window. On the other side is something that looks like the result of a Stealth Bomber getting weird with a penguin.
Balena nods. “Ohhh yeaahhh baby. Now that’s hardout!”
Jono smiles at her. “Nice, eh? Meet Ghost—”
Ghost looks up. “Huh?”
“—A 3,600 horsepower, aluminum and stainless-steel attack boat, almost invisible to radar and sonar, with a dual-pontoon supercavitating hull design, and a top speed of fifty knots.”
“Sounds fancy.” Charlie laughs to himself. “I’ll try not to blow it up.”
Anne continues testing tau-strain virion yields from infected, skin-derived epithelial cells—one of the fastest dividing cell types in a healthy person’s body. When a person dies, these cells continue living, but time is a factor. The longer between death and harvest, the fewer viable cells. Culturing useful cells is a tedious job, and harvesting skin from corpses is ghoulish work. No one, ever, volunteers for the assignment. The cells Anne is using for her tests are only days old—since their last cell division—but they are from a sample that was harvested months ago. She calls Ken over to discuss her latest test results.
When he arrives at her workstation, the slight smile on his face fades when he sees her messed-up hair and messy desk. She’s a neat freak. This can’t be good. “I take it we have a problem?”
She nods. “First tell me that the cell-division is going on schedule.”
“It is, the first one anyway... Mitch almost contaminated the samples, but Kelly caught the mistake. I was going to lay into him, but I didn’t have to. You know Kelly, she really—”
“Ken, I don’t give a shit.”
He swallows and nods. “Right, sorry. So, uh, what’s the deal with the virion-yield? What’d you find out?”
“We need five times our starting count of skin epithelial cells.”
“Damn... I was really hoping that the smaller overall size of tau would yield a higher virion count per cell so that we’d only need to double the cells twice. Do we have enough of any other kind of epithelial cells?” I could send Mitch to the morgue and have him grab all the samples he can find—even from the older, stinkier corpses. That’ll teach him a nice little—
“We have some intestinal epithelials, but not nearly enough to make up the difference we’re looking at. Also, I’m hesitant to throw different types into the mix—we don’t need another variable. I think skin cells are our only real option…” She sighs. “The best idea I have is that we continue the divisions through two rounds, so we’ll end up with four times our starting count. Then we can take three of the four groups, infect them, and double the leftover.”
“Hmm, even if we collect more samples today, it won’t be enough to solve our problem… So we’re still with the tight four-hour window—”
“But for only about 40% of the need. The other 60% we can have finished. Hopefully we can streamline the process and the four-hour window will be sufficient.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” I think I’ll send Mitch anyway, the clumsy fool.
Anne stands up. “Okay. Give me an update after this first doubling, and then at each phase after. I’m going to do a few more tests.”
He tilts his head.
“I want to see if there’s any way I can speed up virion production inside the cells. I’m going to try supersaturating the cells with the amino acids the virus needs for making the viral capsid. I have a feeling that’s the limiting factor.”
“Cool. Good luck.” Oh, Mii-itch…
Trinn and William on the Biotechnology team are more optimistic about completing their tasks on schedule. -Beeeep- William spins in a circle in his wheeled chair while pushing off from his desk, expertly performing a 180 and landing exactly in front of the station testing the Mithrilin separation process with gel-filtration chromatography. He looks through the data, then copies a section and prints it. A laser printer along a wall starts to churn out a few copies. “Trinn, good news.”
She sighs while setting down a series of printed, ultrasound images of the ovary she has been given to harvest oocytes from. “Let’s hear it. Call me Doctor or Doctor Soun.”
He swallows. Yes, Mistress. “The protein size is different enough from other blood components to separate easily. Also, there’s a good amount of it in the samples we already have, so I don’t think we’ll have to push too hard to meet the order.”
Trinn glances back to the ultrasounds. “Just what I wanted to hear.”
“I know we can’t separate it all out, else the virions might be attacked by the still alive cells in our samples. I bet we could take half though.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“Yeah. I’ll set up a few different columns and test just how much of the protein we can pull without doing damage.” He shakes his head. “Isn’t it crazy that a vampire actually got infected with a zombie virus? It’s mind-boggling.”
She nods while considering such a turn of events. “I know, and freaky. For so long I thought we were immune to everything, but then X1 was found.”
“And to think their body invented a new protein to try and fight the virus. Truly amazing.”
She frowns. “It’s too bad the virus killed X1 though, whoever she was. Dr. Melgaard said it was a complete shock to him and Michael when she died.” She motions to the ultrasound printouts. “This ovary is from a post-pubescent teenager.”
William winces. “Yikes… Well, if there’s a silver lining, it’s Mithrilin. Who knows, it could even lead to a vaccine someday.”
Trinn laughs. “After we infect everyone with the virus, yeah, maybe we’ll someday find a true vaccine.” She glances at William, and she smiles at his handsome and hopeful face. She clears her throat and frowns. “Alright, good job so far. Get back to work.”
“Yes, Mi—Doctor.”
While most of Charlie’s team is sent to gather their equipment, Charlie, Balena, and Stephanie remain. Jono walks them down a dock inside the main bay and motions to the futuristic-looking attack boat before them.
“The main hull is about twelve meters long, and you see these two wings that go underwater? At the bottom of them are nineteen-meter-long tubes that contain the engines, fuel, and computer systems. When she gets up above about eight knots, the entire hull of this thing lifts out of the water.”
Balena inspects all angles with her eyes, while Charlie squints and tries to imagine the boat’s hull suspended in the air with just its metal wings touching the water. “Is that what super-decapitating or whatever means? The head cuts out of the water?”
Everyone stops walking out of necessity while they try to understand what Charlie is talking about. Jono groans, but Stephanie smirks. “Sir, supercavitating means that the vessel makes air pockets around portions of the underwater areas, which significantly reduces drag.”
Balena smiles at Stephanie, then glances at Charlie.
He squints while recalling how diving bugs and spiders surround parts of their bodies with air, and that from the outside it looks like a silver bubble is attached to them. He adds giant, silvery air bubbles to his mental image of the boat travelling through the water. “That’s pretty cool.”
Jono nods. “And efficient.” He leads them onto a portable, floating walkway, and then into the cabin of the vessel. “There’s lots of room for personnel, and above this cavity, it’s even got a bit of attack potential. Up in the cockpit—”
Balena cuts him off. “What weapons systems are implemented?”
Jono turns to her and smiles. “This one is set up for anti-surface warfare. It’s got a three-barrel electric rotary canon—like a Gatling gun—that fires 20mm monsters, and it’s got a Griffin missile system that can be guided by laser or GPS.”
She glances at Stephanie, who is smiling with her, then back to Jono. “Tell me we’ve got ordnance to use.”
Their smiles fade. An electric rotary canon attached to a boat at sea level isn’t much good against a target far from water on top of a mountain, and missiles without warheads aren’t much more than fast-moving tubes of similarly dense styrofoam.
Jono feels their letdown. “Like I was saying, up in the cockpit—”
Charlie cuts him off. “This looks like a helicopter’s cyclic.”
Stephanie shakes her head. Whoa, Charlie knows a modern military term?
Jono joins him in the armored cockpit. “Sorta, it’s a more a joystick type control, and over there’s the throttle.”
Charlie shakes his head. “They’re making war machines playable like video games… Go figure. So, who’s going to pilot this baby?”
Jono smiles. “The company trained me on it. I’m the only Kiwi officially allowed to operate it.”
Charlie claps his hand on his shoulder. “Does that mean you’re risking your life with us on a slightly hazily-authorized, counterterrorism operation against unknown forces?”
Jono laughs and shakes his head. “I’m not stupid. I said I’m the only Kiwi authorized to use it. I’m going to continue my assumption that you all are Americans. So I guess the question is: who should I train up?”
Stephanie sits in the captain’s chair. “That’d be me. I see all the manual controls, what about the computer systems? Are any HUD or all on the monitors? Also, what kind of radar is on here and—”
“Hold your horses, miss.” Jono stretches. “Let me get the manual...and another cup of tea.”
Balena clears her throat and turns to Charlie. “I think I’ll recuse myself from the pilot-training. Is there someone else I should send in?”
“Mmm—”
Stephanie scans the labels of switches and monitors before her. “Send in my assistant, Owen. He’d pick this up quickly.”
Charlie shrugs. “Sounds good.”
While the others stow the gear in the Ghost attack boat, Jono shows Stephanie, Owen, and Charlie the manual controls of the craft, which are straightforward.
When Jono is ready to move on to the computer systems, Charlie scratches his head. “Alright, I think I’ll, uh, recuse myself. I’ll send in my squire, Leo, who can do all that computer stuff.”
Charlie sends Eddy into the cockpit, then joins Balena next to the maps from the GEOINT briefing they had earlier.
She glances up at him. “Have you given more thought to our plan?”
He looks at the map for a moment and nods. “Yeah… I’ll be right back.”
She sighs.
Charlie comes back with Ghost and Hecate, then he points at the map. “Okay, so the target is here in the mountains, and the closest we can get by boat is probably here.”
Hecate clears her throat. “That’s what…that guy—the one that gave us this map—said earlier.”
Charlie nods. “I know, but Balena and I figure it’d be best to get some eyes on the ground to provide recon, from here and here.” Charlie points to both the north side and the southwest side of the mountain the target facility is on. “There’s a chance they’ve set up defenses, so I want to send you two as scouts.”
Ghost is all smiles; Hecate is the opposite.
Balena motions to the map. “Sir? Mind if I jump in?”
“Please.”
Balena points to Bligh Sound. It’s to the west and north of the facility, and it’s how Les suggested they approach the target. “We can drop off one of you here, at the very tip of the sound, and then it’s only a couple-mile hike to the base of the mountain. Hecate, did you say you had some climbing experience?”
She nods.
“Okay. If you take this route, try and assess the climb. Also, realize that whatever easily travelled paths that exist on this route, are likely watched or guarded. Whoever takes this route will definitely have to stay on their toes.”
Balena moves her hand to a different body of water, Sutherland Sound. It extends from the Tasman Sea into the island and is almost due north of the target. “We want to drop a scout here as well to explore this other option. It’s a much farther hike, and for normal military, it would be a poor choice for an assault, but we’re far from normal.”
Ghost smirks. “Just call us Abby, Abby Normal... No!” She slaps herself on the leg then points at Balena. “Perry! Call us Perry Normal!” She can’t help but nod as her eyes glimmer. She waits for appreciation of her wit, but no one understands what she’s talking about. After a moment, she exaggerates a shrug and shakes her head. “How do you guys not get that?”
Eddy hollers back from the cockpit, “Nice one, Ghost!”
She smiles and twists to face toward the bow of the boat. “Thanks!”
Charlie shakes his head and points to the alternate drop off point. “Anyway, whoever takes this route will explore south, along this lake—” He leans in to read the name, then frowns. “Lake Grave... Then, climb up to the ridge and get as close as you can to their tower while staying under cover.” He moves his finger west, toward Bligh Sound. “Then, head here along this valley, and we’ll meet back up here, on the shore.”
Ghost nods, then looks at Hecate. “From the northeast side of the mountain, there are probably lots of options for climbing up to the ridge above the facility, but from the other side—under the facility—there are probably fewer options. Your expertise might be better used on that southwest side. I’ll take the longer route, if it’s okay with you.” She smiles. “Also, I like the challenge of getting as close as I can to the tower while staying hidden.”
Hecate nods. “Okay, I’ll take the route where there’s a better chance I’ll get shot at and may need to kill more people.”
Charlie smiles. “Good. Now I want to emphasize this is a recon mission, and I want you to not engage—” He leans his head toward Hecate. “—unless absolutely necessary. And Ghost—” He repeats his motion to her. “—Get as close as you can for information-gathering purposes only. You don’t need to go and tap the damned thing.”
She smiles. “Understood.”
He glances at Balena, then back to the two knights he chose as scouts. “Based on the intel you retrieve, we’ll plan our assault. They’re certain to be monitoring radio channels, so you’re going to have to go dark during this scouting mission. We’ll set up an initial base of operations and await your return. Understood?”
Hecate and Ghost both nod.
“Ghost, we’ll be dropping you off first at the base of Sutherland Sound. Go ahead and do what you need to get ready.”
She snaps into attention, then twists away.
Charlie turns to Balena. “Make sure she takes a firearm.”
Balena frowns. “She’ll refuse… Oh, I’ve got an idea.” She flows quickly through an attention stance then jogs away.
Hecate leans over the map. “Sir?”
“Yes?”
“The closer we get to our objective, the stronger my feeling that we’ll not all be returning from this…”
Charlie swallows. “Take your time preparing—it’ll be a while before we drop you off.”
She looks at him and shakes her head. She slowly turns, making it a point, and gestures toward the cockpit. “I’m not concerned about me, sir.”
Charlie looks and sees Eddy smiling, asking questions, and taking notes. Charlie swallows, considering the different ways he, his wife, and daughter might grieve Eddy’s loss. Or we both might fall… He realizes Hecate is still looking at him, and he locks gazes with her. He nods. “It’s a risk every one of us is taking. Hopefully, we’ll all make it out in one piece, but if we don’t… Whoever’s left WILL complete
this mission.”
She sighs. “Fight to the death?”
He nods slowly. “Mmm-hmm. There’s no option for failure—no second chance.”
After a long drive in what’s regarded as one of the last American muscle cars—the ’74 Trans Am SD—Jambavan, Qilin, and Madeline sit at a balcony inside Philadelphia International Airport. From their position, they have a good viewing angle on the line to check baggage. Jambavan taps the table to get everyone’s attention, then he points to his right.
Fifty yards in that direction, Lorenzo’s goon, John, leads Li Chen, who carries the front of Sadie’s trunk. Steve follows while carrying the rear.
Qilin flips on her mic. “Steve, you hear me?”
“-cough- Hold on a sec, I gotta switch hands again.”
“Good job. We got tickets to Florence. Any word on Lorenzo’s position?”
Steve shakes his hand out. “Thanks, my arm is still healing where I lost a chunk... So, if I’m flying with you all, who’s buying? Lorenzo, right?”
John grumbles. “Yes, seats have been reserved.”
“I want to talk to him about my future with the company, so to speak. Where is he?”
John checks the time. “Probably going through the boarding security check... We’re late.”
Li Chen feels the heavy trunk tug him backward, stopping his movement forward, so he stops too. “Dude, come on!”
Steve ignores him. “Hold on, I don’t have a passport, how the hell am I flying anywhere? Listen, I want to see Lorenzo, or the deal’s off.”
John turns around and glares at him. “You don’t need a fucking passport if you’re flying from North America, you don’t have any suspicious wounds, you have a driver’s license, and you can afford it. Thank Z for all that. You do have a goddammed driver’s license, right?”
Steve swallows. Damn, I forgot about the new rules. I do have a bite wound, but it looks like it’s days old by now, not minutes old… “Yeah, I got my ID.”
